GeekSpazzStudy - Video Game Playing and Gambling-Related Problems: Is there a Connection?

Video Game Playing and Gambling-Related Problems: Is there a Connection?

Research has begun to focus on how gambling impacts adolescents (e.g., Delfabbro, Lahn, & Grabosky, 2005; Welte, Barnes, Tidwell, & Hoffman, 2009). However, researchers rarely have studied the correlation between adolescent video game playing and disordered gambling behavior. This week’s WAGER reviews a study (Delfabbro, King, Lambos, & Puglies, 2009) that examined associations between gambling-related problems and types and frequency of video game play among Australian adolescents.
Methods

• Participants (N= 2,669) were students between the ages 12 and 17 attending six secondary schools (i.e., grades 8-13) in South Australia.
  
  • Delfabbro et al. purposely sampled schools; they selected four schools to obtain representation from each of the four major statistical districts in the metropolitan area and selected two from major regional centers.
  • All students who were present on the survey’s administration day completed the survey with the exception of students who were withdrawn by parents (i.e., withdrawers). The absentee rate reported by the schools was approximately 10%; the withdrawer rate and completion rate were not reported.
  
  
• The survey measured video-game involvement during the past year and DSM-IV Pathological Gambling (PG) items.
  
  • Video-game involvement measures included frequency of play, number of hours played, and type of game played, including: TV games (e.g., Xbox, Nintendo, Playstation); phone-based games; hand-held games (e.g., Nintendo, Gameboy); PC games; and arcade games.
  • Researchers assessed PG using the DSM-IV Juvenile Criteria (DSM-IV-J; Fisher, 1992); a screening instrument for gambling-related problems among adolescents modified from the DSM-IV criteria for PG.
    
    • A 12-item yes/no scale.
      
      • According to Fisher (1992), a total score of four or more indicates pathological gambling.
      • The screen asked about current problems. Five items specify “in the past year,” six items are asked in the present tense, and one item was more ambiguous (Have you fallen out with members of your family, or close friends, because of your gambling behavior?).
      
      
    
    
  
  
• The participants’ DSM-IV-J scores permitted the investigators to establish three groups: Not at risk (i.e., endorsed no items on the scale); At-risk (i.e., endorsed 1-3 items on the scale); and PGs (i.e., endorsed 4 or more items on the scale).
• The authors conducted a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine associations between gambling-related problems and the frequency and type of video game playing.

Results...

[FULL INFO HERE] 


[Story also picked up on GamePolitics.com]